Brendan Schaub thinks Khamzat Chimaev would ‘mop the floor’ with Alex Pereira. The champ disagrees, and he’s willing to bet on it.
Brendan Schaub got the attention of UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira. The former heavyweight turned comedian and podcaster had this to say about “Poatan” and a potential fight with undefeated Khamzat Chimaev.
“Khamzat tweeted out, ‘I’ll fight at 185. I’ll be your champ’ Now, if the UFC wanted Khamzat to be that big of a superstar at ’70 and ’85, your next fight is gonna be Khamzat vs. Alex Pereira,” Schaub said 0n his show (quotes via MMA Fighting).
“Khamzat beats the shit out of him. He mops the floor with him. Again, I’m not taking anything away from Alex, it’s all about matchups and styles and that’s a complete nightmare for him.”
Pereira, of course, disagrees, but he’s willing to put a hefty sum of money into it. As he said through his coach Plinio Cruz in a recent appearance on The MMA Hour:
“No. 1, if needed, [I’ll] fight Chimaev at light heavyweight, not a problem for [me],” Cruz said on behalf of his fighter. “No. 2, Brendan Schaub, I think he was running his mouth.
“Brendan was talking a lot of crap that Chimaev would run [me] over, and blah, blah, blah, and said he would be able to take [me] down in 30 seconds. Here’s the deal, he’ll fight Chimaev in Rio [at UFC 283] — regardless if he’s injured or not — at 205, and he proposes to do a bet with Schaub since he wants to run his mouth.
“$50,000 if he beats Chimaev,” Pereira said. “We both [put up the money], and the $50,000 from both sides we donate to kids in need.
Pereira also wants to prove that he can go against a wrestler of Chimaev’s caliber.
“Also, $50,000 more that he won’t take it down in 30 seconds — and we double that up [also] to donate to the charity. [This isn’t just] for Schaub, but to Chimaev, too. If he wants to jump on the bet train, let’s bet. We donate to the charity.
“A lot of kids are hungry these days. They wanted to run their mouth, their managers can call my manager, we’ll make an agreement. Christmas is coming, let’s feed the kids.”
Schaub, from his end, is willing to partake.
.@KChimaev and @BrendanSchaub are in for @AlexPereiraUFC proposed bet pic.twitter.com/OReBlsGAM1
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) November 28, 2022
Pereira (7-1) impressively won the undisputed 185-pound title after just four fights in the UFC (eight in MMA) by defeating Israel Adesanya via fifth-round TKO at UFC 281. Likewise, Chimaev (12-0) made waves in his two-year UFC run. He last saw action at UFC 279 when he defeated Kevin Holland via submission in less than half a round.